4 A
❘
SATURDAY EDITION
❘ AUGUST 20, 2016
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
DISASTER PREP
B Y D AVE R OBINSON
Special to the Siuslaw News
S
everal months back Ted Koppel
released the book, “Lights Out.” His
book explores what it would be like to
have a nationwide electrical blackout for a
lengthy period and the result of an in-depth
look into the vulnerabilities of the nation’s
power grid. More than one reviewer called
the book “scary.”
I have written a few times on the loss of
electricity and how to survive a grid-down
experience. I own a backup generator, but
they require fuel. It is neither practical nor
safe to store the amount of fuel needed to
see one through a lengthy power failure. I
have calculated that I have enough fuel on
hand to keep my refrigerator and freezer
running until the food contained therein is
depleted.
I have always thought solar energy was
cool, but here on the Oregon coast, some-
times our days are “sunlight hindered,” if
you get the hint. I have had some free time
on my hands recently and stumbled across a
set of online plans for a solar generator I
thought was not only practical, but afford-
able. This unit is portable, self-contained
and capable of light duty usage.
I based my unit on a Plano toolbox, avail-
able at most hardware stores. The toolbox is
built from heavy-duty plastic and seemed
big enough to duplicate the plans I had seen
RYAN CRONK , EDITOR
❘ 541-902-3520 ❘
Opinion
Solar generator
online. I ordered all the components from
Amazon.com and in a few days the parts
began to arrive. In true “Tim Taylor” fash-
ion, I didn’t precisely follow the online
example in that, instead of a 10-watt solar
panel, I ordered a 20-watt unit.
After all, it wasn’t that much more expen-
sive and we all can use more horsepower.
Right? Instead of one 12-volt, 18-amp
sealed lead acid battery, I ordered two.
Increased storage capacity, you understand.
Then, I added a 500-watt inverter and a
solar charge controller. I also added a 12-
volt plug-in that looks like a cigarette lighter
receptacle and a USB receptacle. Those I
mounted in the lid of the toolbox for ease of
access.
After spending a few hours in my shop
and three days sitting cross-legged on my
living room floor, I have all the pieces
assembled and wonder of wonders: It
works! Lights light up and, when I plug my
cell phone into a USB port, the phone goes
“ding” and it charges.
Please know, this won’t power up your
microwave, blow dryer or any major appli-
ance. It will keep your phones charged, your
laptop, tablet, toothbrush, bluetooth speaker,
goTenna, battery-operated power tools and
nearly any other rechargeable device in your
inventory.
YESTERDAY’S NEWS
As an interesting side note, I plugged a
60-watt floor lamp into the inverter. The
inverter has a readout that lets you know
how many watts you are pulling. The read-
out boldly proclaimed, “60 watts.” I
unscrewed the incandescent bulb and
screwed in an LED bulb, the display: 3
watts. Besides, the light is brighter than the
regular bulb. So if you’re agonizing over
spending the extra for LEDs, go for it. They
will easily pay for themselves in time and (I
haven’t tested this yet) but they seem to last
longer than either the compact (spiral) fluo-
rescents or the old school incandescent
bulbs.
My total cost was in the neighborhood of
$200. I picked up all my wire and connec-
tors at the local hardware store. For now,
this is a work in progress, so I will undoubt-
edly keep fine-tuning for a bit longer. Also
understand, I am not an electrician, but if
you have questions about how I did it and
where I got the plans, send me an email.
______________________
Dave Robinson is the postmaster in
Bandon, Ore., and author of “Disaster Prep
for the Rest of Us.” He may be contacted at
disasterprep.dave@gmail.com. Visit his
website for more disaster preparedness tips,
www.disasterprepdave.blogspot.com.
Kudos to city
employees
Festival fun, funky
My wife and I went to the
events center Sunday afternoon
for the 2nd Star Festival.
Not sure what we expected, but
it was a fun visual experience see-
ing individuals dressed in a mix
from a Renaissance fair, a Star
Wars convention and the movie
“Mad Max Thunder Dome.”
There was no way to determine
who were the venders/participants
and who were the visitors,
because everyone was in costume.
It was a sort of funky something
— and I’m still not sure what
“Steampunk’d” is.
We thought the work by artists
Charles Mason and Joshua W.
Kinsey was great.
We entered the front door and
paid our entrance fee and were
given a green strip of paper to be
MOMENTS IN TIME
The History Channel
On Aug. 24, 79 A.D., Mount Vesuvius
erupts in southern Italy, devastating the pros-
perous Roman cities of Pompeii and
Herculaneum and entombing thousands under a
thick layer of volcanic material and mud. In the
18th century, the cities were rediscovered and
excavated.
On Aug. 22, 1864, the International Red
Cross is founded in Geneva after being advo-
cated by Swiss humanitarian Jean-Henri
Dunant. The international emblem, a red cross
on a white background, is the Swiss flag in
reverse.
On Aug. 25, 1875, Matthew Webb, a 27-
year-old merchant navy captain, becomes the
first known person to successfully swim the
English Channel. Webb accomplished the 21-
mile crossing, which really entailed 39 miles of
swimming because of tidal currents, in just
under 22 hours.
On Aug. 27, 1883, the most powerful vol-
canic eruption in recorded history occurs on
Krakatau, a small volcanic island in Indonesia.
Heard 3,000 miles away, the explosions threw 5
cubic miles of earth 50 miles into the air, creat-
ed 120-foot tsunamis and killed 36,000 people.
On Aug. 23, 1926, the death of silent-
screen idol Rudolph Valentino at age 31 sends
his fans into a hysterical state of mass mourn-
ing. Some 100,000 mourners lined the streets
outside the New York City church where funer-
al services were held.
LETTERS
Masonic Lodge #107 owns a
commercial property in Old
Town, near Bay Street. This sum-
mer it was refurbished after a ten-
ant moved out. I contacted the city
planning office to insure our com-
pliance with the city.
City
Planner
Wendy
FarleyCampbell responded by
telephone, e-mail and her staff.
She assisted in our compliance
with exterior paint colors and ade-
quate landscaping, including
plants, automatic sprinklers and
minimum square footage. Her
staff was most helpful and courte-
ous in expediting our renovation.
Residents of Florence are lucky
to have “can do” people in the
Planning Department in lieu of
obstructional folks other cities
might have.
Kudos to Florence city employ-
ees.
Rodney Stowe, Master
Florence Masonic Lodge #107
EDITOR @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
On Aug. 26, 1957, the Soviet Union
announces that it has successfully tested an
intercontinental ballistic missile capable of
being fired “into any part of the world.”
Following his election in 1960, President John
F. Kennedy made missile development and the
space program priorities.
On Aug. 28, 1968, at the Democratic
National Convention, tens of thousands of pro-
testers against the Vietnam War battle thou-
sands of police in the streets of Chicago. Fights
also broke out on the convention floor, and del-
egates and reporters were beaten and knocked
to the ground.
(c) 2016 King Features Synd., Inc.
attached to our person. Later I
noticed those that entered through
the south entry did not pay for
admittance. If the entry fees were
going to the FEC, how much
money did they loose?
Win Jolley
Florence
Hands off the
people’s business
Our right to decide what initia-
tives we can vote on is under
attack by four out of five county
commissioners.
Pete Sorenson, the only attor-
ney on the commission, under-
stands that the county cannot
legally weigh in on initiatives
until after the new laws are
passed. That this is a constitution-
ally protected provision of the ini-
tiative process is the argument
Sorenson made to his fellow com-
missioners.
If Sid Leiken, Jay Bozeivich,
Faye Stewart and Pat Farr really
want to save the taxpayers money,
they won’t pass a law that, most
certainly, will kick off a lawsuit
and land the county in court.
Let’s keep the pressure on our
elected officials by contacting
them. Tell them, “Hands off the
people’s business, executed
through the initiative process!”
Michelle Holman
Deadwood
have more and more killings as
more and more guns become
available. We now have innocent
people everywhere — in malls,
schools, churches, theaters, etc.,
— being murdered.
Either this is paranoia or insan-
ity. They say “guns don’t kill peo-
ple; people kill people.” Then that
shows that perhaps people should
not own guns.
Jean Perry
Florence
Gun paranoia —
or what?
Political thoughts
How is it that gun violence,
during the last century, was virtu-
ally unheard of? There was very
little gun ownership, and along
with that, the gun murders that
took place were in poor, large city
neighborhoods by gangs.
Now, however, with the
onslaught of gun purchases we
I have three political thoughts:
President Obama’s brother is
voting for Trump. How about you?
Why didn’t the Democratic
National Convention have the
Benghazi mothers and fathers of
our fallen heroes speak?
Something is not free if your
neighbor has to pay for it.
Martin Cable
Dunes City
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Published every Wednesday and Saturday at 148 Maple St. in Florence, Lane County, Oregon. A member of the National
Newspaper Association and Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association. Periodicals postage paid at Florence, Ore.
Postmaster, send address changes to: Siuslaw News, P.O. Box 10, Florence, OR 97439; phone 541-997-3441; fax
541-997-7979. All press releases may be sent to PressReleases@TheSiuslawNews.com.
Pres. Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
TTY/TDD Comments: 202-456-6213
www.whitehouse.gov
Gov. Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court St.
Salem, OR 97301-4047
Governor’s Citizens’ Rep.
Message Line 503-378-4582
www.oregon.gov/gov
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
541-431-0229
www.wyden.senate.gov
FAX: 503-986-1080
Email:
Sen.ArnieRoblan@state.or.us
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753/FAX: 202-228-3997
541-465-6750
State Rep. Caddy McKeown
(Dist. 9)
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1409
Email:
rep.caddymckeown@state.or.us
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (4th Dist.)
2134 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6416/ 800-944-9603
541-269-2609/ 541-465-6732
www.defazio.house.gov
State Sen. Arnie Roblan (Dist. 5)
900 Court St. NE - S-417
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1705
West Lane County Commissioner
Jay Bozievich
125 E. Eighth St.
Eugene, OR 97401
541-682-4203
FAX: 541-682-4616
Email:
Jay.Bozievich@co.lane.or.us